>> reporter: as the rain continues to fall tonight, driving along the roadway has become more difficult. >> it was pretty bad out there. i couldn't really see weir was going. >> reporter: this was earlier tonight, water gushing out of the ground at bay street and embarcadero. ponding has drivers concerned out here and hoping they don't

hit one of the flooded areas. >> there was a lot of water and planing a little bit. >> it was pretty scary, especially those big highways. i think we got here in once piece. so that's all right. >> reporter: despite the rain, people still came out along fisherman's wharf. they just grabbed their rain coats and umbrellas and enjoyed the holiday rain. >> i got the umbrellas an a water proof coat. i'm good to go. >> take the good with the bad. >> you bet. >> reporter: i did check with the chp. they tell me they are asking bad drivers to slow down and be cautious if they have to hit the roadway tonight or tomorrow. back to you. >> conditions have been wet all across the area especially north of the city. kron4's jr stone continues our coverage from petaluma. >> reporter: weather continues here in the north bay, anything but pleasant. wet, windy and very cold

outside. according to my measure device that measures wind speed, 70 miles an hour. it's 45 degrees outside and the rain is coming down. directly behind me there is a light flashing on that sign. it says flooded. this section of petaluma just off of highway 101 has been flooded for much of the afternoon. there was an accident at one point this afternoon. no major injuries. the cars here were dealing with all sorts of problems. as i drove up to the pet mew law area, there were all sorts of problems along 101. at one point i saw a car hydroplane across four lanes of traffic. fortunately, he was able to drive off. but i was listening to scanners. as you see this water go flying up in the air and chp was responding to hydroplaning all across the north bay. in the last 30 minutes or so, the rain has slowed down.

we're we're not seeing the heavy downpour that we saw earlier in the afternoon. it's still in the 40s. it's still very wet and windy outside. reporting from the north bay, jr stone, kron4 news. officials have been scrambling to repair a levee in east palo alto that was breached in heavy rains over the weekend. crews placed sandbags where the creek topped the lev ear. the flooding forced -- lev e. the flooding force -- levee. the flooding forced people to evacuate. here's more. >> reporter: this has collapsed and the home behind it, cleared out. this weekend's flooding caused so much damage, tents are still not allowed back inside. >> the next couple of days our staff will be working to work with the owner in order to begin some of the repairs necessary to make it okay again. >> reporter: six other families were evacuated but are now back home. the memory of the flood is

still very vivid. >> i walk in the house and i walk out and -- it was really fast. it's already five inches high. it's like wow. it's really fast. >> reporter: now cleaning up, neighbors spent christmas day watching mud from inside their moments. >> i had to clean around the back too much. >> reporter: to much water? >> and mud. >> reporter: crews laid down sandbags along the banks to prevent further flooding. >> we found that the flows the other night were the third highest flows since the early '50s that's been recorded. i don't think we'll see anything like that. so we should be okay. >> reporter: the city is confident the work done is sufficient and will prevent further flooding. crews be willer here throughout the night checking levels and monitoring the creek. in east palo alto, kron4 news.

state highway 1 in big sur is closed because of a major rock slide on sunday. caltrans officials say an emergency contractor will clear the large debris field and repair a 6046-foot section of the -- 60-foot section of the road. the highway is shut down south of mile marker 42 near big sur inn and mile marker 23 near lucia. officials say one lane is expected to reopen by the end of the week. alternate routes include ferguson road, u.s. highway 101 and state route 68 and 46. heavy snowfall in the sierras is causing dangerous conditions for skiers. in the past three days two people have died and two others have been injured after being caught in several avalanches. here's more. >> reporter: tuesday evening a ski patrol member with the sierra nevada ski resort died from injuries he suffered on monday after being caught in an avalanche. this follows the death of a snowboarder at the donner ski area on monday who was caught in a separate avalanche.

experts say across the mountains, heavy amounts of new snow is sitting on top of an unable snowpack creating an avalanche danger. there's been an advisory issued. this is a google earth map looking north across the lake. miles from the yuba pass in the north and the advisory includes all of the tahoe area ski receipts. experts are asking people to be careful in the back country and to heed warnings at local ski areas. >> they are monitoring the weather, the wind, the know def sigs. they are out there daily with their noses in the snow. they are a very good -- there is a very good probability that this area is fixed. >> reporter: the advisory is set to expire on wednesday. after that, experts will re- evaluate the conditions. charles cliffard, kron 4 news.

>> stay with kron news as we continue to track the weather. for the latest go to kron 4.com and our facebook and twitter pages. ahead -- glide memorial served up meals for the needy. and how troops in afghanistan spent christmas. plus -- an alternative to dining out. time to dry a cooking class. that's this week's dine-in dish.

we have another band of rain moving across the bay area for this evening. here's live stormtracker radar scange the rain. one here in the -- scanning the rain. one here. they are picking up a band of moderate to heavy rain at this time. it's currently pushing to the east there as the rainband -- there's the rainband. it's moving out to the central valley. as it goes through, it's producing some areas of very

heavy rain. that's the case right now at the san mateo bridge. here is a closer look a ibetween hayward and san mateo. there is the bridge. there's some orange indicating a heavy your downpour and also heavier rain into union city and fremont. this is moving off to the east. we'll see improving conditions shortly. things are starting to deteriorate into the east bay as this band moves from the west to the east. rainfall totals so far today, up and over an inch for san rafael. san francisco, close to an inch. a lot of places with .50. more is on the way for this evening and for tomorrow. here's a live view, san mateo bridge. as i was showing you on the radar, this is how it looks out there. we have a downpour on the span with a lot of heavy traffic by the way. now, for tonight at midnight, periods of rain continuing. off and on. we'll see the showers for tomorrow morning and some clearing as we get into the

afternoon. future cast 10:00 p.m. shows scattered rain showers through the evening that will continue for the overnight after midnight into tomorrow morning. we could see some breaks of sunshine for the day tomorrow. a few breaks in the morning and then increasing sunshine for the afternoon. as far as the showers go at 6:00 a.m., scattered showers and they will begin to decrease as we approach noon and go into the afternoon. the white here shows the cloud cover. it begins to thin out and break up by the lane afternoon and evenings hours here is the seven-day, clearing tomorrow night. for thursday. increasing clouds friday, chance for rain once again friday night into saturday morning. it looks light and then clearing sunday. sunny monday and tuesday. americans around the country are celebrating christmas. in afghanistan they got into the spirit of christmas.

leadership personnel did the honors of serving up a traditional christmas meal to give the troops a true safe of the holiday. they carved turkey to the sounds of favorite christmas tunes. one of the most inspirational celebrations in san francisco happens at glide memorial church. each year cecil williams introduce us the glide memorial singers. here's the sights and sounds of this year's celebrations. >> it's a new day. it's a new day. it's your day. it's my day. it's efare you day. every day is our day. >> you are gonna get some music today. ♪ [singing] ♪ see the baby lying in the

manger on christmas morning ♪ ♪ >> love came down at christmas. love came down. [singing] [singing] >> christmas happens each time hope gets reborn in our souls ♪ silent night ♪ holy night

[singing] >> love is amongst us. [singing]

[singing] ♪

♪ >> reporter: some volunteers were here early as 5:00 a.m. by the time they are over, they will serve 5,000 meals. there are new volunteers that want to help out but many of the people we spoke with today, this is their 10th, 20th year, including this gentleman here. how many years have you done this year? >> 20th year. >> reporter: what do you get out of it? >> satisfaction and knowing that i'm doing the right thing to help other people. as we all know, many of us are fortunate, we have good lives and the people need our help. this is one small way to do it, not today but every day. there is just no place like this. the feeling of vibration you feel in the room is what life is about. >> there's no way you would not wake up on christmas morning and not be here. >> this is part of our thanksgiving and christmas routine. it's part of our routine. it's what you do as a member of the community trying to help

out. >> reporter: thank you. let's show you those in need. directly downstairs from us is the cafeteria, you can see how busy it is. they started to serve around 7:00 in the morning. people were more than welcome to come back for lunch and dinner. that's how much the need is. with a little bit different according to organizers in the past, you would see a lot of people homeless and jobless. what's different, they are seeing more families with a roof over their heards with a job, but the problem is they are not making enough money, so most of their money goes to rent and to make a little bit of wiggle room to make ends meet a lot of families are coming here to glide now to receive their meals so they can spend the money other things like toiletries and necessities. and keep in mind, the need is not just for the holiday season. the need here at grade is year round. coming up later in sports, jim harbaugh, whether the team should be concerned as they

near the playoffs given sunday's loss to settle. and the big nba games. and a man named cole on it yellowhorn coles the goal of the year in hockey. those stories and moyer -- later in sports -- those stories and more, later in sports. we'll be on the kron 4 show for new year's. kron 4 new year's live starts at 11:30 on new year's eve.

today on diamond dish, we're putting on the apron and we're gonna make a fine meal.

it all starts at cooks classes right here in inside the sirrala store in palo alto with this chef. >> we'll have you up and running, you will be very impressed with yourself. let's go. >> let's go. >> reporter: first we boil water. how hard can that be? >> you will be cook the pasta in there. >> reporter: tonight we're making holiday tapas. you would be proud to serve this spark food to your guests. there's a brief lesson how to use a sharp night. saute some shallots and onions and we skewer some shrimps and then it's a lesson of indoor barbecuing and a demonstration of how to plate. that's it? >> dig in. >> here we have the green beans that are cooked with the cumin and slice of almond and we have

the cha chiroso and sausages. for more information go to kron 4.com and click on diamond dish. if you don't like the food, you only have yourself to blame. it might be good to take that night cooks class. we'll be right back.

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coming up at 8:30, disturbing new details about the man believed to be behind an ambush in new york that ended with two firefighters dead and two more wounded. the note the killer left. and a dangerous holiday in alabama as a tornado touches down in mobile. live stormtracker 4 showing heavy rain in hayward, san lorenzo. this is moving toward the trivalley now. i will let you know how long this is going to stick around -- coming up.

now for a look at our top stories at 8:30, a wet and windy christmas in the bay area. large bands of storms moving across the region tonight. in the north bay, drivers advised to proceed with caution to avoid hydroplaning and spin out on slick roadways. in san francisco, a steady downpour proved to be too much for storm brains near the embarcadero. some were so backed up that

water started to flood streets. flies at sfo are delayed by as much as an hour and a half. departing flights delayed for less than an hour. the storm also dumped record amount ofs -- amounts of snow in the sierra and a member of the avalanche patrol died. brian will be back in a moment with the forecast. a remindern not to drink and -- a reminder not to drink and drive. a family is celebrating without a mother as a driver ran her over on twin peaks. here's more about the message of loss. >> reporter: justin waldman, kron 4 news. >> we're having problems. we will get back to the story.

the driver of the car faces vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated. her arraignment is scheduled for tomorrow. a street race between two vehicles in vallejo leads to a hit-and-run incident on broadway street, sending a 54- year-old man to the hospital in critical condition monday night. police say neither vehicle stopped after get -- after hitting the pedestrian. >> we received multiple 911 calls. each person who called indicated that there were two cars involved which were racing down broadway street. once we got out there, we did neighborhood canvass, if you will, and we were able to talk to a variety of different people who indicated these two cars were speeding in what appeared to be involved in a speed contest. >> investigators are checking surveillance cameras in the area. anyone with information can call the vallejo police department. marin avenue in million

valley is back open after being shut down after a water main break. firefighters say a 12-inch main ruptured late in the morning and spewed about a thousand gallons of water a minute. sandbags were stacked to prevent flooding in one home. no other damage was reported. water service was restored again last night. the road was reopened again. chilling new details about the man who set fire to his neighborhood yesterday before shooting four informs -- firefighters. two of them fatally in webster, new york. it's near rochester. today, we learned the shooter left a note indicating his intention to wipe out as many people as possible. >> reporter: p.m. spengler was hoping to kill -- william spengler was hoping to kill more people than he did, that's what his note indicated, his three-page typed note. he wrote i still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood i can burn down and do what i like doing best,

killing people. >> he intended to kill as many people as possible before stopping. but as far as motive, all kinds of speculation and truthfully, we do not know. >> reporter: police believe spengler's 67-year-old sister, cheryl, also died in the incident. the two lived together in one of the houses that burned. police say spengler started the fire luring firefighters so he could kill them. >> a clear ambush on first responders. spengler had armed himself heavily, had taken up an area of cover in a natural depression in a bank on a tree. and immediately started to fire upon first responders. >> reporter: authorities say spengler shot and killed volunteer firefighters mike chiapperini and tomasz kaczowka. two other firefighters were shot and are in serious but stable condition tonight. spengler served 17 years in prison after being convicted of fatally beating his 92-year-old grandmother with a hammer back

in 1981. >> the gunman had three guns with him. among them a bushmaster semi- automatic rifle, the same weapon used in the recently connecticut school shooting. nay be wet and windy here but things -- it may be wet and windy here but things are a lot worse in other parts of the country. a massive funnel cloud touched down in alabama earlier this evening and was spotted moving through the city. it flipped cars and broke windows of -- windows of several businesses. no official reports of injuries. it's believed to be one of two tornadoes. in houston county there's debris strewn everywhere and some buildings are basically unrecognizable. in harris county, authorities say one person was killed when a tree fell on him. utility companies report that thousands of people there are without power. on a stormy day here in the bay area as well, i've been tracking a line of heavy rain

here into the east bay. it's been moving quickly from the west to the east. right now, the heaviest rain for the inland spots also in to the san ramon valley as well as the south bay been but we're seeing some improvement here for the peninsula and into the north bay as things begin to quiet down. there are some more showers offshore. a closer look at the east bay here shows that mainly light rain although it is a little bit heavier to the east of antioch in towards brentwood, danville also getting heavier rain and things have been picking up here in the south bay, especially between fremont and milpitas. a closer look shows that we do have some of the yellow and orange colors showing up and snow in the sierra. that's the blue here. that snow is making for some hazardous travel over the mountains for tonight. one to two feet of snow expected before this is all wrapping up for tomorrow night. now, a look at the satellite and radar shows that most of the rain is now off to the east of the bay area. but behind this main band, we

still have a lot of showers to deal with, a lot of cold air spilling in. i will let you know when we have some sunshine in the forecast coming up. vicki? a kansas teen has -- teen has turned his lawn into a christmas show. here's the hard work that goes into creating this elaborate display. >> reporter: this is what cody hanna looks -- lives for. not presents, not the food. >> starting when i was 7, i started to like lights. >> reporter: for cody, it's all about lights. >> this is it. >> reporter: each year he has a goal. >> get bigger. more lights, way more lights. >> he has liked lights ever since he was probably a baby. >> reporter: forecoydy, it wasn't that long ago. he's only 13. >> when he was about 7, he decided he was going to start decorating his room. >> reporter: from the few lights in a room to this. ♪

>> reporter: what else can you say? >> yeah. cool. it's very cool. this is my new thing this year. >> reporter: his efforts go beyond a few extension cordses. >> i will have a sign that says what channel to turn to and you will be able to listen it once you turn to it. >> reporter: the lights are run by special software on a laptop he saved up to buy. >> my neighbors came out and clapped for me at the end of the song. >> he's already putting this to music at 13, i am pretty hour she's a clark grus wall in the making. >> reporter: a -- griswold in the making. >> it will only get better from here.

coming up -- during the holiday season, don't let the chp catch you riding dirty. i'll explain in the next edition of "people behaving badly." [ singing christmas carols in background ]

aunt sally's singing again. it's a tradition, honey. [ singing christmas carols ] mmmm. [ female announcer ] make new traditions with pillsbury grands! cinnamon rolls. [ female announcer ] holiday cookies are a big job. everything has to be just right. perfection is in the details.

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the story we prom blissed earlier about not driving and driving. a family is celebrating christmas without their mother after a suspected drunken driver ran her over on tick peaks last week. justine waldman talked to the family and the message they have to someone who is thinking about drinking and driving. >> the first three days, i keep crying and now there's no tears. >> reporter: in a split second, a family was torn apart on twin peaks last week. police say a drunk driver hit three people, then sped off. the car crashed into them so hard, the victims plummeted 30 feet down the hill. rescue workers had to pull them up and tried to save the life of the eldest victim who later

died at the hospital. >> i do not hear anything from the mom. it was too fast. >> reporter: only child kye lost his mother, 56-year-old, that night. she came here from china to briefly help her son and wife take care of their 18-month-old baby. they went to twin peaks to show friends the beautiful screws of the-- the beautiful views of the city and then -- >> tragedy happens. took my mom from hee me. >> reporter: he spent christmas cleaning out her mother's room and planning to return her body to china for a proper burial. the sadness is not something he wants any other family to suffer through. so he has a message about drinking and driving and getting behind the wheel -- >> think about the consequences. i had a perfect family.

a perfect mom and now everything is gone. >> reporter: just teen waldman, kron 4 news. u.s. holiday retail sales this year are the weakest since 2008 after a shopping season disrupted by storms and ricing unernty -- uncertainty. a track says holiday sales increased .7%. now, analysts had expected sales to grow 3% to 4% this season. sump storm sandy caused sales to decline after striking east coast in late october. that short shows investors nervous as lawmakers fail to reach a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff. we'll be right back.

here's stan roberts who found some people banking bad --

behaving badly. >> we're gonna turn right. >> reporter: every major highway, the chp puts out an all hands on-deck call. it's called maximum enforcement. >> at the next driveway we're gonna turn right. next driveway turn right. >> reporter: this means there is a maximum amount of officers on the road looking for violaters, like this driver who -- well, listen to the officer. >> the reason i stopped you, you weren't wearing her seat belt. >> reporter: the driver claims she forgot. that's not a good excuse. >> you got cited today for not wearing your seat belt. >> reporter: this driver was observed doing something that is all too common in the bay despite it being a violation of the vehicle code. >> drive. drive. drive. exit the freeway. exit the freeway. >> reporter: even driving while on the cell phone without the

benefit of a hands-free device and yes, he did get a ticket. this driver ran a stop at a frontage road. watch this driver of the volkswagen. not only did he run the stop sign works not wearing -- sign, was not wearing a seat belt. if you have never heard of the term "driving dirty" it means, not only did he not have a seat belt on, he ran a stop sign, he had another problem. apparently, his registration was expired. vehicle registration pays for road maintenance and funds the freeway service patrol and it pays the chp's salary. >> go ahead and step out for me. >> reporter: to make a long story short, riding dirty will almost always guarantee your vehicle will get towed. for some people that could mean

a long walk home. look on the bright side, at least your car gets a ride. stanley roberts, kron 4 news. a lot of rain around the bay area and stormtracker 4 is showing you where it is. most of it beginning to shift out of the bay area now, out toward the east bay. but the south bay being impacted by this latest band of rain as it pushes through. a closer look currently at the east bay shows that some of the heavier showers moving out towards mt. diablo but dublin getting some heavier rain currently as it pushes to the east. also the south bay, some of the yellow colors show where the moderate to heavy rain is falling in and aroundian town san jose, also milpitas, driver towards sunnyvale and cupertino. it will be ending shortly because all of this moving toward the east, about 30, 40 miles an hour. 10:00 p.m., scattered showers continue for tonight. they will persist into the

overnight hours as well and into tomorrow morning. so look for off-and-on showers, periods of dry weather and then a few raindrops as we go through the day. the showers will be decreasing as we get into the afternoon hours and maybe some breaks of sunshine as well. thursday, mostly sunny. so dry weather returns and so does the sun but it doesn't last long. friday, another storm moves into town. we'll see the clouds thicken through the day. chance for rain in the afternoon and evening. this does look to be light rain however. some showers early on saturday, partial clearing in the afternoon. sunshine and clouds on sunday then looking nice for new year's eve day monday and into 2013. vicki? >> jason's up next with a rematch of the last year's nba finals. and should 49ers' fans be concerned after the blowout loss against settle? coach harbaugh himself weighs in -- next. hey, dad.

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all right. welcome back, everyone. gather i have off tonight. a big christmas day matchup in the nba. le brown james, dwyane wade and the miami heat hosting kevin durant and the oklahoma city thunder, a rematch of the nba finals. second quarter, james he'll show off his power with the rebound putback slam. he finally picked up foul. unbelievably his first one in five games. durant baseline with the floater and foul.

33 for durrestaurant and dwyane wade to -- for durant and dwyane wade, jam, one-handed slam. 91-86, heat and james to bosh inside. 98-95 at that juncture. heat win 103-97. it's the fifth straight heat win over the thunder going back to june's nba finals. the lakers, they are finally starting to heat up and kobe bryant playing on christmas day for the 16th time in his 17 seasons. lakers hosting carmelo anthony aned new york knicks. look at kobe go. back door, the reverse layup. kobe had 34 points his ninth straight game with 30 or more. knicks go on a 15-5 run to open the third. anthony with downtown, p 'melo matched kobe bryant about 34 himself. pau gasol, he's been is -- he's been called so, he throws down

the exclamation point. lickers -- lakers win. they even their record at 14- 14. in brooklyn, now celtics at knicks, hello, santa claus, rhonda will be on the break, he will -- rondo will be on the break. 19 point, five assists. fourth quarter game got chippy late. the nets wallace will tug on the shorts of kevin garnett. here is -- there's pushing and shoving. final, 93-76. celtics win. the nets they are trading and low lost nine of their 12. is jim harbaugh concerned after the blowout loss to settle? >> no. i feel like our team's leadership and i feel the interlength of the staff. i think the talent of the players, the work ethic of the players will pave the way. >> yes. seriously. what's he gonna say? we're screwed, we won't win another game? look at vernon davis get

roughed up. potentially some good news. according to a 49er inside, davis should be available for the season finale at home against the cardinals. he will have to pass the concussion proto follow. -- proto follow. the raiders, tommy kelly wanted to injure panthers quarterback cam newton this past sunday. kelly took issue after a sack right here in which newton, you can't really see it, but he tried to kick kelly while on the ground. some scuffling ensued. he also had a problem on this hit with carson palmer that broke several of his ribs saying you don't try to do anything illegal. but you see someone put your quarterback back. it kind of makes you want to put theirs out. this is a nonstory given the climate in the nfl but because of the situation with the st.s it will be interesting to see if commissioner goodell reacts in any way to those comments. for those of you clamoring

for some hockey, in light of the nhl lockout, this one's for you -- >> moving right. at the hash kicked and shoots and scores! what a brilliant move by yellowhorn. are you kidding me! >> that's right. colton yellowhorn. he goes behind the back the 360 spin. nothing but net. they beat the san francisco bulls, 4-3 in an e.h.l. game this past sunday. finally, talk about a devoted fan. guess who emmett dove's favorite team is? the large miami dolphins that toon on his cranium should give it away. only one possible hiccup, it looks like they may be changing their photo. this grainy photo was leaked and this will be apparently the new photo. i suppose mr. dove could also get himself a new tattoo. that's it for us.

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